'Ukiyo-e Heroes'

Print #10 - Blue Storm

Title: Blue Storm

Comments from Jed: "Most game heroes walk a lonely road. Level after level, they battle through enemy armies with barely any support. Smaller and weaker than their opponents, they face incredible odds. And yet they persevere because their courage (and the player's determination) give them an advantage. Through adversity, they grow individually as characters along the way. It's a process my gamer friends call 'leveling up in your heart' - an apt expression for the emotional journey we all experience in games. We cheer for these tiny digital underdogs inside our TV screens, because they represent our own hopes and struggles in life.

"The left caption says 末子一世頼 meaning: "The Last Born, the greatest hope of our age". The right caption reads 岩乗九番 which means "Strong Number 9". The kanji 岩 means 'boulder', which hearkens back to this man's 'rocky' origins. ;)"

Comments from Dave: "Among collectors of traditional Japanese prints, it is very common to find that the favourite items in their collection are those prints that show inclement weather. The woodblock medium somehow seems particularly suited to this ... the presence of rain, snow, or mist adds extra dimensions to the view, including - as in this case - extra drama. What scene of dead and burning robots couldn't be improved by the addition of some driving rain? :-)"